When Yoshi Tsukamoto and Momoyo Kaijima of Atelier Bow-Wow arrived at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design in the winter of 2016, they challenged students to look deeply at their surroundings, and to record their reactions as a “public drawing.” In it, time is suspended and expanded; futures, presents, and pasts converge; and the act of drawing becomes an instrument of dialogue and engagement.

Returning a few weeks later, Tsukamoto and Kaijima spoke with K. Michael Hays, reflecting on representation, occupation, and the democracy of architecture. They unfolded their concept of an “ecology of livelihood” wherein shadow-less figures, objects, and spaces coexist with construction details. Explaining their belief in the “behavioral capacity” of humans, architecture, and nature, Tsukamoto and Kaijima revealed the generosity of spirit in their work, and the importance of pushing such capacities to their most yielding limits.

Architectural Ethnography is the fourth title in the book series The Incidents, based on uncommon events at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

Co-published by Harvard University Graduate School of Design and Sternberg Press.